Bendy bananas were the classic but this latest Euro-ruling really takes the biscuit.
The European Commission has refused to publish the result of its online poll on biofuels claiming organised and campaign voting stopped individual citizens having their say.
In other words, the votes of more than 47,000 people, who disagreed with Europe’s proposals for raising biofuels’ sales, aren’t valid.
These 47,653 voters said no to raising Europe’s biofuels’ target to 10 per cent by 2020 from the existing five per cent by 2010. They formed 87 per cent of voters - a resounding No to more biofuels.
What if 87 per cent had said Yes? Would their votes have counted? Would the poll have been scrapped? Would the outcome have been buried so deep that only the equivalent of a freedom of information request forced it back to the surface?
This is crunch time for biofuels because next month, MEPs vote on whether to force oil firms to sell more biofuels.
If they say yes, they will be spelling doom for rainforests, peatlands and grasslands, all of which teem with wildlife and store huge amounts of carbon.
If they say no, they will not be shutting the door on biofuels, but instead giving governments more time to ensure fuels cut emissions and don’t cause serious environmental damage. Most existing biofuels are not achieving those aims.
The Commission changed its mind on bananas, but only after years of ridicule.
We don't have time to make the same mistake on biofuels. The EU should take heed of its citizen's votes and act in accordance with their overwhelming wishes. Aren't politicians there for the people after all?
Read more about the RSPB's biofuels campaign here
And here for more on the poll